October 2023 Zimpeto Widow's Home Update

This program provides care and support to widows who are generally alone, living in poor conditions and neglected by others. We will highlight 5 of our widow's in this report.

Pictured below is Rosa Machava. Rosa is 78 years old and a member of the Iris church. Extremely poor and too old to work, we brought Rosa into the widows' program.

She is fortunate to have a simple house. She does have children, but they abandoned her long ago. Rosa's vision is very poor and she has trouble with her legs. We assist her with hospital visits/consultations as needed and keep in close contact to ensure her other needs are met.

Laurinda Novela (below) is also 78 and has been a member of our church on base for 10+ years. Sadly, Laurinda is not well now, and because of this, she cannot be active with the church. She can no longer come out or do simple tasks at home. Unable to cook for herself and struggling physically and mentally with her declining health, we asked Laurinda if we could come alongside and support her.

Finding assistance with mental health care is not easily done in Mozambique. We spend time with her, pray for her, and help with her hospital appointments.

Isabel (below) is 79 and came into the program last year because of a great need. While we have been involved in Isabel's care on a lesser level since 2007, when we learned the scope of her needs last year, we employed someone to assist her on a daily basis.

Isabel lost her sight and is now blind. She never had children, and her extended family rejected her, leaving her with nothing. Thanks to IMC donors, we built Isabel a home.

We recently discovered and made contact with distant relatives. We spoke with them about the love of Jesus and the importance of caring for widows and those in need. We see them trying to help Isabel a bit, and we are praying that they will have compassion and contribute to her support needs in ways they can.

Pictured below are Helena (70 ) and her grandson Azarias (17), who lives with her. Azarias is in grade 12 and is very intelligent. We are offering educational counsel/support for his future.

Helena's situation was brought to our attention by the staff at Azarias' school. We visited their home to see what their living conditions were like and discovered that Helena's field was full of water from the Maputo flooding earlier this year, and the family had nothing to eat. Their suffering was great. Their house is in terrible condition, and we are planning to build them a new one.

We are currently doing monthly home visits to ensure their needs are met. 

Pictured below is Rosalina Zunguze, who we have shared about in previous reports. She is 90 years old and disabled because of a leg amputation. We have always understood that Rosalina was abandoned by her family, and we didn't know if she had children or not. We learned this year that Rosalina had a son, who is now, deceased but left behind a wife and child.

With no one to care for her, we welcomed Rosalina into our Iris family years ago. Rosalina had to be hospitalized for several weeks this year, and we hired someone to take care of her while in the hospital. She is now at home with a full-time caregiver but is still in critical condition.

We are deeply grateful for the support received to care for these precious grannies, who otherwise would not have survived. They are loved and not alone...